Ibrahim Shaqir of OIRP (center) working at the first US – Uzbekistan S&T Joint Committee Meeting.

US – Uzbekistan Joint Committee on Science and Technology

Ibrahim Shaqir, Director of the ARS Office of International Research Programs (OIRP), co-chaired the Agriculture Working Group under the U.S. – Uzbekistan Joint Committee Meeting on Science and Technology in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, May 5 – 7, 2014. This was the inaugural meeting between the U.S. and Uzbekistan regarding the Science and Technology Agreement signed in 2010. The agricultural priority areas discussed included agricultural biotechnology, biosafety and biosecurity of agricultural plants and animals, and water related problems. Dr. Robert Griesbach, ARS Office of Technology Transfer, and Melanie Peterson, Uzbekistan Program Manager, OIRP, also participated in the meeting.